Hair treating apparatus and also process of permanently straightening hair on a human head



Dec. 11, 1934. J. K. LIVINGSTON 1,983,909

HAIR TREATING APPARATUS AND ALSO PROCESS OF PERMANENTLY STRAIGHTENIIJGHAIR ON A HUMAN HEAD Original Filed June 2 1932 FIG-I4 FIG-I5 JAY K.LIVINGSTON,

INVENTOR.

ATTORNEYS.

Patented Dec. 11, 1934 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE Jay K. Livingston,Tulsa, Okla., assignor of onefourth to James R. Cole, Tulsa, Okla., andonefourth to Patent Securities Company Application June 2, 1932, SerialNo. 614,936 Renewed March 5, 1934 12 Claims.

My invention relates to a process of permanently straightening kinky orcurly hair on the head of a human being, and has for its objects: toprovide a method whereby such hair will be caused to become straight andwill permanently remain in that state, and furthermore to provide such aprocess whereby the structure of the hair will be caused to assumesubstantially that of normally straight hair which will not return toits kinky or curly state even tho it may be repeatedly washed with soapand water in the usual manner, and when subjected to such washing willreact thereto the same as naturally straight hair.

My invention also relates to new and useful improvements in certainapparatus adapted for use not only in my process but also for use inother methods of treating the hair, and has for its objects: to providea hair holding bar adapted to hold hair on the human head while the hairis being subjected to treatment, and having means thereon for holding awrapping material on the bar and also means to prevent the bar fromslipping sidewise off that part of the hair which is being held on thebar; to also provide a strip of shrinkable absorbent material adapted toform a casing within which to enclose said bar and hair held thereon,and to also provide a means of fastening one end of said strip to saidbar; to provide an enclosing heat confining tube adapted to slip oversaid wrapping and its contents and to be sealed at one end and having aprotective covering thereon and with said covering containing a rip cordwhereby the protective covering may be removed from the tube; and alsoto provide an aligning block adapted to be slidably mounted on said barwherewith the hair may be aligned on said bar or may, as with othermethods of treatment, be used to draw the hair taut on the bar.

With the above and other objects in view which will appear as thedescription proceeds, my inventions consist in the novel featureshereinafter set forth in detail, illustrated particularly as toapparatus in the accompanying drawing, and more particularly pointed outin the appended claims.

In practicing my process, the hair on the human head is first thoroughlycleaned and dried,

0 then a small amount of mineral oil is worked into the hair and thehair then combed with a hot comb causing the hair to assume a straightor comparatively straight structure, then, while retaining the hair in astraight position, subjecting it to the action of heated vaporsgenerated from a liquid alkaline solution causing the hair to becomepermanently set, a parently changing its structure to that of normallystraight hair so that it may be subjectedto any of the usual washingtreatments given to straight 5 hair without causing it to return to itsoriginal kinky or curly state. I

Altho the application of said heated vapors to said hair may be made inseveral ways, pref erably it is done by dividing the hair into tufts 0of convenient size, laying the hair out straight and while retaining itin that position firmly wrapping each tuft in a wrapping of shrinkableabsorbent material saturated with a liquid alkaline solution and thenapplying the heat to the 15 wrapper and its contents. As it is verydesirable to hold the hair as straight as possible during this part ofthe treatment, it is preferred to place the hair on a bar, andparticularly to place the hair on my form of holding bar. In 0 using myform of bar each tuft of hair is tied or bound as by a string placedclose to the scalp of the head and each tuft is then divided into twoparts or strands and the holding bar then placed between the two strandsand one 25 end of the bar pressed against the bifurcation of the tuft.The aligning block is slidably mounted on the bar and is run downthereon close to the scalp and both strands of hair placed thereon, oneon either side thereof, where it is retained in a groove thereonpositioned longitudinally of said bar on either side of said block. Theblock is then moved outwardly from said head and along said bar and atthe same time the operator applies pressure to said strands of haironsaid block, as with the thumb and finger of one hand pressing the hairbetween them, causing the hairs in the strands to lay straight on thebar as illustrated in Fig. 5 of the hereinafter mentioned drawing, andwhile the hair is laid out straight on said bar it is enclosed in awrapper or casing of shrinkable absorbent material saturated with aliquid alkaline solution as aforesaid. Preferably the casing is firmlywrapped about its contents. If my form of wrapper is to be used, whichis preferable be cause with it the casing may be more firmly wrapped andis easier to put on, instead of using the thumb and index finger asshown in the drawing mentioned, the operator can use his thumb andsecond finger and avail himself of the use of his index finger inmanipulating the wrapping as it is being wound about the bar with thehair thereon. In using this wrapping it is first saturated with a liquidalkaline solution and, commencing close to the scalp, is spirallywrapped while being tightly stretched and with the windings overlappingeach other to form a casing. Wrapping is facilitated by using a hook onone end of the strip with which to hook the strip to the bar preparatoryto wrapping as shown in Fig. 6 of the hereinafter mentioned drawing. Asthe winding proceeds, the aligning block is moved backward on the bar.After the winding has been completed, the free end of the strip may besecured to the bar by an ordinary paper clip. The casing and itscontents is then enclosed within a heat confining tube of suitablematerial such as lead or tin foil, and the end of the tube situatenearest to the head is closed as by twisting or crimping the end of thetube to prevent heated vapors from escaping from the tube and injuringthe scalp. A conventional electric or other heater of the tube type ofconstruction is then placed about the heat confining tube and itscontents, and the same caused to generate heated vapors from said liquidalkaline solution with which the aforesaid wrapper or casing issaturated.

It is not to be understood that the hair close to the scalp and which isnot confined within the casing and subjected to the heated vapors, willbecome permanently straight, nor that the new growth of hair will bestraight, but only that the hair actually treated will becomepermanently straight as aforesaid.

The apparatus above referred to is shown in the drawing in whichnumerals of like character designate similar parts thruout the severalviews:

Fig. 1 is a view in side elevation of my holding bar.

Fig. 2 is an end view thereof.

Fig. 3 is a top plan view of my aligning block. It is also a bottom planview thereof as both top and bottom are the same.

Fig. 4 is a view thereof in side elevation.

Fig. 5 is a view in cross section on line WW of Fig. 3.

Fig. 6 is a View in cross section on line X-X of Fig. 3.

Fig. 7 is a top plan view of my strip of shrinkable absorbent materialwith which to form a casing and showing a hook as a fastening means atone end of said strip.

Fig. 8 is a sectional view on the line Y--Y of Fig. '7.

Fig. 9 is a view in side elevation of my heat confining tube.

Fig. 10 is a view of the same in end elevation.

Fig. 11 is a view illustrating the manner of using my holding bar andaligning block therewith.

Fig. 12 is another view illustrating the same and showing the abovementioned strip attached to the bar preparatory to forming the casingmentioned.

Fig. 13 is an additional view of the same showing the casing in placeover the hair and bar, except for the last wrapping, and showing theoverlapping of the strip and the fastening of the free end thereof.

Fig. 14 is a View in side elevation of a conventional heater of thehollow tube type adapted to receive the heat casing confining tubeaforesaid.

Fig. 15 is a view of the same in end elevation.

1 represents a holding bar, preferably of metal, bifurcated at the endsand having projections 2 thereon adapted to contact and hold a strip tobe wound about the bar, said projections preferably being teethpositioned along the edge of the bar as shown in the drawing. Preferablythe bar is made convex in cross section as clearly shown in Fig. 2.

3 represents generally an aligning block adapted to be slidably mountedon the bar 1 thru an aperture 4 in said block. 5 represents a groove insaid block disposed longitudinally of the axis of said aperture 4, theblock being made with such a groove on both of its sides.

In the drawing the groove is shown as being formed by vanes 6 on theface of the block, but it may be formed in any other manner as byplacing lugs or pins thereon as retaining guides for the hair.Transverse of the aperture 4 is another aperture 7 in said block, whichaperture bisects the groove 5 and thru which the hair when placed on theblock may be pressed into frictional contact with the bar 1 when theblock is slid thereon in aligning the hair on said bar, as illustratedin Fig. 5 of the drawing.

8 represents a strip'of flexible, shrinkable ab-' sorbent materialadapted to form a casing as aforesaid and to absorb a liquid alkalinesolution as previously mentioned, with 9 a hook at one end of the stripadapted to secure the end thereof to the bar 1 preparatory to windingthe strip on said bar, and with 10 a common paper clip.

11 represents the inner tube of my heat confining tube, 12 the outerprotecting tube therefor which is of material stiff enough to protectthe inner tube and yet adapted to be ripped by a rip cord 13 placedwithin the outer tube 12.

H represents a tuft of hair on a human head, which is not shown, andwith said tuft tied together close to the scalp as with a string 14.-

In using my equipment in the preferred manner, after the hair has beenseparated into tufts and the tufts tied as aforesaid, each tuft isdivided into two strands each of which is designated as 15, and the bar1 with block 3 thereon is then inserted between the strands with one endof the bar pressed against the bifurcation of the tuft. The bifurcationin the end of the bar retains it in position between the strands. Forconvenience only, the bar is bifurcated at both ends which then areinterchangeable.

The operation of my pieces of apparatus has already been explained indisclosing my process, and need not here be repeated. 7'

However, in using my equipment in manner other than in the practice ofmy process as hereinabove disclosed, the bar may be used, withoutdividing the tuft of hair into strands as aforesaid, by' tying the hairto the bar as has been the practice, or preferably by tying the tuftclose to the scalp by a string and looping the forks, which are on theend of the bar, within the string in which case a greater tension may beexerted on the hair, and particularly if my aligning block is also used,in which case it is not used so much as an aligning block as it is astretching block with which to stretch the hair straight and to hold ittaut under tension during steaming, which is not necessary with mymethod. Moreover my strip 8 may be used in place of the conventionalcasing, and its use is desirable in that with it the casing can be morefirmly wrapped about the hair on the bar. Furthermore, my heat confiningtube may also be used in the ordinary method of treating the hair aswell as used in my process.

llaving thus fully disclosed my inventions both as to process and as toapparatus as aforesaid, what I claim and desire to secure by LettersPatent is:

l. The herein described method of permanently straightening kinky orcurly hair on the head of a human being, which consists in firstcleaning and drying the hair, then applying a slight amount of mineraloil to it and combing it with a hot comb until it is of the desiredstraightness, dividing it into separate tufts of size convenient tohandle, tying each tuft close to the scalp, then dividing the tuft intotwo divisions or strands and inserting a holding bar between the strandspressing one end of the holding bar against the bifurcation of said tuftand aligning the hair on said holding bar longitudinally thereof andwith the hair held in that position on said bar then firmly encasingsaid tuft of hair on said bar within a casing of shrinkable absorbentmaterial saturated with a liquid alkaline solution, and then subjectingsaid hair and its enclosing case saturated as aforesaid to heat confinedabout said casing causing heated vapors from said liquid alkalinesolution to form Within said casing and to permeate the hair within thesame, and continuing to subject said hair to said heated vapors untilthe structure of said hair has assumed that form in which it will remainpermanently straight.

2. The herein described method of permanently straightening kinky orcurly hair on the head of a human being, which consists in firstcleaning and drying the hair, then applying a slight amount of mineraloil to it and combing it with a hot comb until it is of the desiredstraightness, dividing it into separate tufts of size convenient tohandle, tying each tuft close to the scalp, then dividing the tuft intotwo divisions or strands and inserting a holding bar between the strandspressing one end of the holding bar against the bifurcation of said tuftand aligning the hair on said holding bar longitudinally thereof andwith the hair held in that position on said bar then firmly encasingsaid tuft of hair on said bar by tightly wrapping a strip of shrinkableabsorbent material which is saturated with a liquid alkaline solution,overlapping the strip in a spiral as it is wound on said holding bar andaround the hair thereon, then placing a tube around said casing and itscontents and sealing the end of said tube which is located nearest tothe scalp, and then subjecting said tube and its contents to heatcausing heated vapors from said liquid alkaline solution to form withinsaid casing and to permeate said hair therein and continuing to subjectsaid hair to said heated vapors until the structure of said hair hasassumed that form in which it will remain permanently straight.

3. The herein described method of permanently straightening kinky orcurly hair on the head of a human being, which consists in firstcleaning and drying the hair, then applying a slight amount of mineraloil to it and combing it with a hot comb until it is of the desiredstraightness, dividing the hair into separate tufts of convenient sizeand laying it straight or taut on a holding bar and while the hair onsaid bar is being so held encasing said tuft of hair on said bar withina casing of shrinkable absorbent material saturated with a liquidalkaline solution, and then subjecting said hair and its enclosing casesaturated as aforesaid to heat confined about said casing causing heatedvapors from said liquid alkaline solution to form within said casing andto permeate the hair within the same,

and continuing tosubject the hair to saidheated vapors untilthestructure of the hair has assumed that of a substantially normalstraight hair.

4. The herein described method of permanently straighteningkinky orcurly hair on the head of a human being, which consists in firstcleaning and drying the hair, then applying a slight amountof mineraloil to it and combing it with. a hot comb until it is of the desiredstraightness, dividing the hair into separate tufts of convenient sizeand laying each tuft straight or taut on a holding bar and while thehair on said bar is being so held firmly encasing said tuft of hair onsaid bar Within the casing of a shrinkable absorbent material saturatedwith a liquid alkaline solution, then placing a tube around said tuft ofhair on said bar and about said casing and sealing the end of said tubewhich is nearest to the scalp and subjecting said tube and. its contentsto heat causing heated vapors from said liquid alkaline substance toform within. said casing and to permeate said hair therein andcontinuing to subject said hair to said heated vapors until thestructure of said hair has assumed that form in which it will remainpermanently straight.

5. The herein described process of permanently straightening kinky orcurly hair on the head of a human being, which consists in firstcleaning and drying the hair, then applying a slight amount of mineraloil to it and combing it with a hot comb until it is of a desiredstraightness, dividing the hair into separate tufts of con venient sizeand holding the same extendedstraight and while in said straightposition tightly wrapping the tuft with a shrinkable absorbent materialsaturated with a liquid alkaline solution and subjecting said wrappingand its contents to heat causing heated vapors to be generated from saidliquid alkaline solution within said wrapping and to permeate the hairtherein, and continuing to subject the hair to said heated vapors untilthe structure of said hair assumes that form in which it will remainpermanently straight.

6. A holding bar for use in holding hair of the human head thereon,comprising a metal bar wider than it is thick and wherein the widersurfaces thereof is arched to form a convex surface with the thickestportion of said bar extending centrally and longitudinally of said bar,a series of projections along one edge of said bar, and with one end ofsaid bar being bifurcated.

7. An aligning block for use on a holding bar for holding hair of thehuman head thereon, and with said block comprising a sleeve adapted tobe slidably mounted on said bar, an aperture in said sleeve and withsaid aperture positioned transversely of said bar when said sleeve ismounted thereon, and a groove on the outer surface of said sleeve andlongitudinally disposed with the axis thereof, and with said groovebisected by said aperture.

8. The combination of a holding bar for holding hair of the human headthereon, an aligning block slidably mounted thereon, means of holding astrand of hair on said block in longitudinal alignment with said barwhile sliding said block on said bar.

9. The combination of a bar as claimed in claim 8, and means of holdinghair on said block in frictional contact with said bar while slidingsaid block on said bar.

fine steam therein generated from a liquid alkaline solution, and withan end of said tube protruding beyond the corresponding end of saidouter tube, and a rip cord within said outer tube and having one of itsends extending beyond said outer tube. a

12. A heat confining tube as claimed in claim 11, and with saidprotruding end of said inner tube adapted to be crimped.

JAY LIVINGSTON.

